Current reels for winding and protecting carrier tape are pre-assembled, bonded, 1-piece reels. Alternatively reels may be assembled from two or three components. Assembly of the components may consist of joining two hub/flange components together. Three-piece reels may also be used. The three-piece reels consist of two flanges and a central hub, which when joined create a single width of reel. Assemblies for more than a single width reel require multiple different SKU's to form the component parts for a desired size and width dimension for a reel used for transportation of carrier tape.
Reel flange components may include an external support. The external support for the reel flanges may be formed from continuous bands which are joined together at their ends, forming a protective band. The protective band provides support to the outside edges of the flanges, preventing compression of the outside edges of the flanges together when the reels are vacuum sealed in a protective bag. Each different reel width requires a matching band width, for the provision of the desired support for the exterior edges of the reel flanges.
The art referred to and/or described above is not intended to constitute an admission that any patent, publication or other information referred to herein is “prior art” with respect to this invention. In addition, this section should not be construed to mean that a search has been made or that no other pertinent information as defined in 37 C.F.R. § 1.56(a) exists.
All U.S. patents and applications and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
Without limiting the scope of the invention, a brief description of some of the claimed embodiments of the invention is set forth below. Additional details of the summarized embodiments of the invention and/or additional embodiments of the invention may be found in the Detailed Description of the Invention below.
A brief abstract of the technical disclosure in the specification is provided for the purposes of complying with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72.